Resident Evil 5 Has Shipped 5 Million Copies Worldwide
Capcom multi-platform survival horror title Resident Evil 5 is a big game. How big? To the tune of 5 million big.
The Osaka-base game developer has shipped over 5 million copies of the game, which went on sale this past March. To date, this is the highest number of games shipped for a Resident Evil game. The previous record holder was Resident Evil 2 with 4,960,000 units shipped.
To put things in perspective, four million copies of RE5 were shipped in March alone.
『バイオハザード5』の出荷本数が全世界で500万本を突破 [Famitsu]
Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
4,960,000 units alone on PS1. There are more units sold other consoles e.g. PC, gamecube
@Mark Patterson: Yeah, that seems to be the inevitable result in any industry where you need significant time and resources to release something. Film, TV, video games, it really doesn't matter. Investors like betting on a sure thing, which RE5 is because RE4 is awesome so naturally everyone is going to buy RE5, regardless of how well it compares to RE4, because the majority of people are stupid.
It seems the only time this doesn't happen is when a quality director/creator makes so many good things (even if maybe the first few weren't huge financial successes) that his name is what sells future products, instead of the name of the series. Assuming that director/creator can maintain their ability to come up with interesting things.
nworobes
@Tuckiozi:
Since somebody asked the americans about it.
Aaaaaaah americans, the only people that can go to Africa and say: Look at all the minorities.
cavalerie
@Tuckiozi: Best thing ever to have been said.
@Agumen: I bring thee good news. I think it was Mikami (the creator of the series, as you probably know) said that since they have made 2 of this type of games (over-the-shoulder), the next game has to be something different, like RE4 was compared to RE3 and others. I think you can find that comment somewhere on Kotaku.
kumis
@WFROSE: Heh heh, I never liked either Nights or the VF series. Just goes to show, some people just have intrinsically different tastes, eh?
And I agree with Mark P. above. RE5 isn't bad, per se, it's just meh. And I also agree that if they had to sacrifice quality for sales they'd do it. Luckily for gamers, quality usually sells.
@electroshockwave: Yeah, you're right, most of Africa is populated by black zombies. My mistake.
@Maykie: They're all just mturder simulators.
@Tuckiozi: Good point!
It may not have been RE4 part 2, but if it had been, people would've complained that Capcom were phoning it in. Easily the most fun I've had with a game this year. Also the game where I made the most online friends. Personally, this was my favorite RE so far. ... Jus sayin'..
@Tuckiozi: Meh, if the game is primarily being played in Japan, North America, and Europe, I'm pretty sure to 99% of the people who own the game, black people are a minority.
nworobes
I hate the fact that many people (unlike myself, unfortunately) refused to give this game the credit it rightfully deserves, because they're just a bunch of Leon / Mikami fanboys who just wanna complain.... I still love Mikami, but I lost mad respect for him, when he totally bombed the storyline for RE4.
but these fanboys will just go on singing the same hypocritical tune.... "so the control is an issue now, but it wasn't in RE4?!?!--- even though it's the same thing (with "run" and "action" swapped.... big deal)".
PLEASE Capcom, please don't go back to the hyper corniness that was RE4.
BigBossPETE
Mediocre game. they should just let Resident Evil die already.
It was not as good as RE4, but it was still pretty damn good IMO. Especially when you play the game Co-Op with a friend.
Congrats CAPCOM, but honestly do you now see that you really did not need to sell that multi-player mode separate since you just banked 5 million copies of the game sold?
@BubbleF**kingBuddy: My guess would be because RE4 was the first time in a LONG time that anybody gave a shit about a Resident Evil game, and it got very positive critical reception. Still, it seemed like RE4 didn't get very much marketing, and the people who played it pretty much had to hear about it through word of mouth.
RE5, on the other hand, seemed like it had a much larger marketing push, while also having the pedigree of RE4 to make it seem appealing.
nworobes
@Roguehamster: I think the game is above mediocre but it was still overrated and undeserving of these sales. It seems to be mostly because of the quality of Resident Evil 4 and the heavy marketing campaign. I hardly ever saw ads for the previous games but RE5 was advertised for several weeks after it's release in the UK.
@Kobun: The game's set in Africa, so technically the black zombies aren't a minority there.
@Ackers: The demo was underwhelming, but when you play the full game - especially when you have a friend to play online with - it becomes addictive as crack. I wasn't expecting much when it came out and then it became all I played until I had every trophy plus spent countless hours in mercenary mode.
@Agumen:
agreed. i must have re-played 4 about...5 or 6 times.even after there was nothing else to collect, i just played it coz it was so god damn cool. i finished re5 twice, and then, pretty much havent played it since. its just so....meh?
the industry is changing. its becoming more and more like television : its not about whats good, its about what people buy into. and unfortunatley..thats usually shite.
Mark Patterson
@nworobes: Since when where africans a minority in Africa?
Tuckiozi
Its a little disconcerting but in reality these are just games shipped right does it take in consideration actual sales by the end-consumer...
Anywhoo the game felt a little dated... i know i know it was a design choice for the movement to be that way but that is not the only way of creating tension...
DredPriest
@Agumen: It's funny hearing people say things like this. I never completed RE4 because I sincerely got bored of it. On the other hand, RE5 is one of my most played games ever, right under NiGHTS (which I played every day for two years straight) and the Virtua Fighter Series.
@BubbleF**kingBuddy: I'd say the live-action trailers helped a lot, also, playing Mercenaries with my brother was some of the most fun I've had with co-op games.
@Kobun: That's a lot of mediocre minority killin'.
Fixed.
nworobes
Gtames are bad for you.
That's amazing. I honestly didn't expect it to sell so much. Kinda weird how 4 came out on 4 platforms with a larger install base than the 360 or PS3, but still managed to sell less.
BubbleF**kingBuddy
I hate the fact that many people (like me, unfortunately) bought this on the strength of the unbelievable RE4, figuring the same team must be able to make another classic. It was pretty quickly apparent that they couldn't, and I found the game really disappointing.
But with these sales, Capcom will think that RE5 is the new template they should follow. No Capcom! Bad! Go back to the actual action/horror stylings of 4, please!
Well done! The more they ship, the bigger chance I have to find a cheap used copy :D
Vidunder
@Roguehamster: That's a lot of minority zombie killin'.
Fixed.
i thought the demo was alright but it didnt get me to buy the game... but if it sold 4mil in march then touche
@Roguehamster: we killed zombies? i thought i was killing infected africans(bring back proper zombies god damnit)
That's a lot of mediocre zombie killin'.
Roguehamster
@Tuckiozi: lol owned
GunSilence
When you release a game for two consoles, sales magically go higher! (maybe a reason why metal gear is multiplatform now)
nokia93
@WFROSE: Yeah, isn't it funny how different people can have different opinions about games? The world sure is a strange place... :P
Personally, I loved both RE4 and RE5. I couldn't play any of the earlier RE games, because of the godawful control scheme.
MechaTama31